AESTHETIC ENERGY OF THE CITY. EXPERIENCING URBAN ART & SPACE

Energy is the capacity of a physical system to perform work -this is the simplest definition of energy. Energy as a physical quantity is manifested in many forms -as heat, kinetic, mechanical, and chemical energy, or potential energy. In this book, metaphorically referring to the concept ofenergy, we wish to po int out that it is also possible to talk about aesthetic energy and that this concept is ver} useful in the discussion on the subject of the city. This energy in the context of the city can be understood in two ways. On the one hand, a given place with its ownaestheticnaturehasits ownpotentialofenergy.Afterall,the cityphysically, with its space, landscapes, architecture and art, is an object of permanent aesthetic experience. Can this potential be transformed into work? These aesthetic experiences make people abandon certain places and admire others; sorne cities fall, while others grow. The aesthetic object -and it should be noted that among aesthetic qualities we experience not only beauty or harmony, but also the sublime, tragedy, ugliness and kitsch -in itself, affecting its recipients, may become a source of specific exploitative but also creative activities. The other meaning in which aesthetic energy is understood is related to revealing the aesthetic aspect ofhuman activities. Are we not willing to perform some work in order to save the aesthetic experience or participate in it? It is not difficult to note that the movement of this energy in favourable conditions takes place in a circle: the energy ofplaces affects people’s behaviour and people create places full of energy.